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A “tall, majestic bass” with “impeccable technique” and “a palpable presence on stage” Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg’s career has spanned a vast range of repertoire on the concert and operatic stage. His recent dramatic work has earned acclaim around the globe from the title role in Der fliegende Holländer in his Bolshoi Theatre debut, Alberich in Das Rheingold with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Minnesota Opera, Doktor in Wozzeck with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, the King of Scotland (Ariodante) in his Salzburg Festival debut, to his company debut at Teatro alla Scala, in Robert Carsen’s world-premiere production of Battistelli’s CO2.
Establishing himself as a specialist in the works of Wagner, the 2017/18 season will see Mr. Berg return to the role of Holländer at the Cincinnati Opera Festival, Alberich in Das Rheingold with Opéra de Montréal and making his debuts as Wotan in Das Rheingold at the Badisches Staatstheatre, Karlsruhe, Germany and Alberich in Siegfried at the National Taichung Theater, Taiwan. He will also be covering the roles of Alberich in the Metropolitan Opera’s complete Ring in the 18/19 season. In 17/18 he also makes debuts at the Salzburger Festspiele and Whitsun Festival singing The King of Scotland in Christof Loy’s production of Ariodante and Douglas d’Angus in La donna del lago, both roles opposite Cecilia Bartoli. An incredible presence on the symphonic stage, this season Nathan Berg will perform Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, as well as with the Vancouver Symphony, conducted by Bramwell Tovey. He will also perform with conductor Hannu Lintu, first in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Finnish National Radio Orchestra, then with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells. Another season highlight will be Detlev Glanert’s Requiem at the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg.
In 2016/17 Nathan Berg appeared as Bluebeard in Mariusz Trelinski’s new production of Bluebeard’s Castle for Teatr Wielki, Vodnik in Rusalka for Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and returned to Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as Doktor under Markus Stenz. Other appearances included Semperoper Dresden as Zoroastro in Orlando in Andreas Kriegenburg’s production, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks for L’enfant et les sortilèges under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Wratislavia Cantans International Festival for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Jacek Kaspszyk, BBC Scottish Symphony for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis under Donald Runnicles, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias for The Dream of Gerontius under Rossen Milanov. In North America, Mr. Berg performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Diego Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, and Grand Teton Music Festival; the latter conducted by Donald Runnicles, Mozart Requiem with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Bramwell Tovey, and returned to the Edmonton Symphony for an evening of opera excerpts.
In his vast range of styles and repertoire Berg is in demand by the world’s most distinguished conductors including Kurt Masur, Sir Andrew Davis, Hannu Lintu, Roger Norrington, Hans Graf, Donald Runnicles, Philippe Herreweghe, Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Michael Tilson Thomas to name a few.
As a Grammy and Juno Award-winning recording artist he has performed on over 30 recordings of works ranging from the 17th to 20th century with period to modern orchestras. Early in his career, Nathan Berg established his name as an outstanding interpreter of baroque and pre-classical music, both in concert and opera alongside major Mozart roles around the world. Notable amongst his many early recordings with Les Arts Florissants are Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah and video recordings of Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes (Opéra de Paris) and Lully’s Armide (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées). Other noteworthy earlier recordings are Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Peter Hall’s Glyndebourne Festival production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola as well as lieder recordings including songs by Othmar Schoeck and the album ‘Lieder Recital’ with pianist Julius Drake. Recent releases include Wozzeck (Doktor) with the Houston Symphony and Hans Graf, Dvořák’s Requiem with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and Philippe Herreweghe, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony and Les Indes Galantes with Christophe Rousset and the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse. Soon to be released are Rusalka (Vodnik) in DVD and Donna del Lago (Duglas) in CD.
Born in Saskatchewan, Nathan Berg studied in his native Canada, the United States, Paris and at the Guildhall School of Music, London, where he won the prestigious Gold Medal for Singers.